Northern Rangers: Tour up Tiger Mountain

The Northern Rangers decided today to prove our trip up Tiger Mountain with a video tour of the mountain. We are still training for our June 6th trip up Mount St. Helens. For training we've been climbing the mountain. Today we got soaked, pelted with snow, hit fog and ran into a very muddy, mucky and slush covered trail. But it was great adventure.

Only in Spokane

Since we're reaching the breaking point here in Spokane, where apparently every mini-van in the city has become high-centered, this was just bound to happen:

One man was arrested by Spokane police after gunshots were fired Monday morning at a private snow plow operator who was clearing a parking lot. Police said the motorist apparently got upset when the plow operator honked his horn.

"It's safe to say that fuses are short, people are frustrated and we are having an increase in neighborhood disputes regarding snow-related issues," said Jennifer DeRuwe, a police spokeswoman.

My uncle's company, Hansen Logging, which has helped out with the plowing in Spokane County, has had someone shoot at their machinery with a pellet gun, and one of their trucks was vandalized.

One of the worst things right now about the snow is the large pot holes that are developing in the plowed snow everyone is driving over. They're developing at every turn-in and turn-out in the city so basically you're taking a chance to get stuck everytime you go someplace unless you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

And I get to go downtown this evening... yessss.....

Got Snow? Melt it!

I'm at my parents house now for Christmas Eve, and my mom asks me to shovel the drive. I say no problem, throw my boots on and head outside. While shoveling, I think to my self that there should be an easier way to do this. Like maybe a blowtorch, or better yet a flame thrower. Then I say, "No Casey, that would just be stupid."

Well, I guess this guy thought it was a good idea:

Man melting snow with blowtorch ignites home
He wanted to clear back porch, instead he's got $30,000 in damage

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Fire officials in New Bedford, Mass., say a man using a blowtorch to melt ice on his back porch ended up setting his house on fire, causing up to $30,000 in damage.

Fire Capt. Scott Kruger tells The Standard-Times of New Bedford that no on was injured during Monday's incident at the three-story home.

Kruger says the man was using a torch hooked up to a 20-pound propane cylinder. He got too close to the building's wood frame and ignited the vinyl siding. The fire quickly spread into the building's second- and third-floor apartments.

It took 25 firefighters to subdue the blaze that damaged bedrooms in the upstairs units, and caused damage to the structure and wiring.

The homeowner will not be charged.